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DEC 2 4 1974

UNIV. OF MASS.
ARCHIVES

BLACK LITERARY EXPERIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS

CONTENTS page

BLACK CULTURAL CENTER STATEMENT FROM MILLS HOUSE

EDITORIAL

Robin Chandler

BLACK STUDIES AT U-MASS (STUDENT OPINIONS)
Sandy Mitch em

POEM of ACADEMIC RELEVANCE
Stokes W. Hall Jr.

BLACK STUDIES INTERVIEW WITH PROF. BERNARD BELL
Carlton Brown

BLACK STUDIES INTERVIEW WITH PROF. LAWRENCE JOHNSON
Philip Pettijohn

QUESTIONS of RELEVANCE
Carol Seales

AMHERST OCCUPATION: STATEMENT of POSITION

Five-College Black Student Community

AFRO SONNETS

All the beautiful people 10

A TOUCH of COSBY

Jimmy Wilkinson 22

BROADSIDE BULLETINS 23

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/drum12univ

THE FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT OF POSITION BY THE
BLACK STUDENT COMMUNITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
MASSACHUSETTS CONCERNING THE PRESENT OCCUPATION
OF MILLS HOUSE.

"Culture is an organized integrated pattern of

behavior followed by a society of people.

Further from the life experience of a people they

develop a set of rules and procedures to meet

their needs.

These rules and procedures are supported by a

system of ideas and values that together they

form an organized integrated pattern of behavior

and this we can call a culture."

Also, culture is: Morals , art , law, manners .folkways ,

and all things that men learn and share as a group.

WE, THE FOLLOWING BLACK STUDENTS FEEL THAT THERE IS

NO BLACK CULTURE UNLESS WE LIVE IT.

LIFE IS CULTURE.

CULTURE IS LIFE.

WE CANNOT VISIT THAT CULTURE AND BE A PART OF IT.

WE MUST LIVE IT!

WE MUST SURVIVE WITHIN THAT CULTURE EVERY MINUTE

OF THE DAY, EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY, IN ORDER TO

PROLONG THAT CULTURE AND ENRICH IT.

( it's about the secret blood rite that's been goin' down )

rejoice... my fine BLACK roots

For the fruit of spiritual amnesty

harvested , f o-eva

f orever . . .Wantu Wazuri

Wantu Wazuri, "the beautiful people"

and Wantu Wazuri

the landless

and Wantu Wazuri

the dustless
NOWHERE to re
Turn . . . towards one another

which tells me
Wantu Wazuri

our minds are land
Wantu Wazuri

our voices , one, is money

we ARE the nation

of future antiquity
which tells me, "there are thieves among us" -

and we know it

Black angels since
Black angels gone. .

And the power clutch of revolution bein shifted by the beautiful people.
Black angels' spirits fly-by-night

and on another stage bojangles . .f or real.. square business
while off to the side

behind a purple curtain, shirley temple
buys her a villa
that bojangles folks tapped upon eons ago "tryin to make tht thing real'

to make it grow green
and productive.

we built this whole damn world,

and you know it
so go hustle your liberal curls where the walls meet the ceiling, dimples

where folks dig white on rice
THIS HAPPENS.

And elsewhere Wantu Wazuri continue to continue to continue to continue

(to be continued)

elsewhere Wantu Wazuri

revolve

evolve

dissolve

resolve

involve

and solve ourselves

our tension, when it's really
your problem

and you know i t .

Always finding some expression for what

WE ALL

SCREAM

[inside]
because everything you HAVE

is ours
and you will never adequately feel precious ecstasy

a basic sovereignty ever-growing
no longer scattered as sand is in wind from 9 to 5

sand? y'all even gut the sand breezin to your
funky rhythm

Blackness is a faith we LIVE

LIVEl Hear?
Not a Sunday deal with gawd... your fantasy

your problem
but meditated on silently. .forever

in, yeah,

in Wantu Wazuri style

rejoice... my fine black roots

For the fruit of spiritual amnesty

harvested

forever,

if we struggle.

-RC-

BLACK STUDIES :ITS NECESSITY, OPERABILITY AND SUCCESS AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

The following is the first in a series of student opinions concerning
the establishment of a Black Studies Department within the structure of the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

QUESTION: The necessity of whites in
Black Studies? Is it profitable to
blacks? Is it an educational advantage
for black and white students to be ed-
ucated in the same manners and methods?

Many who argue the merits of in-
tegration and assimilation feel that
there is no difference in the abilities
of black and white students and their
capacity to be educated. Others argue
that ethno-cultural education must be
approached by different methods. It
seems that it is not the students
alone who must be educated. The in-
structors (all instructors) of the Arts,
of Culture. .History .Politics , Literature
and Education itself Must be considered
when laying the groundwork for an ever-
expansive Black Studies Department.
Their educational background, their cap-
acities for growth and also their nat-
ural human limitations must be realized
if we are thinking of the new direction
being taken by education. Methods used
must be convincing, in-depth, and infor-
mative. The instructor of a course must
never sacrifice the criteria of his
course material to please,f latter , or
persuade the bigoted liberal types he
may be instructing.

And then, what could possibly

convince a white person that he should
have an education in Black Studies
when we know that there are still our
younger brothers and sisters who des-
perately need education and mental
discipline FIRST 1 But thera are many
"rationales" for integrated education
from a white standpoint. After all,
they must keep a watchful eye on all
the black man does. Any attempts he
makes towards achieving the promises
made to him by the ancestors of feu-
dal Americans could be a threat to
their equality or standards. Most
students feel that they must spend
their four years at the university

becoming involved in arbitrary causes.
CAUSES THEY ABANDON WITH THEIR CAPS
AND GOWNS AT GRADUATION. They believe
they have now earned the robes of the
middle-class majority. Many feel that
if they run the gambit of radical col-
lege protest groups and support pseudo
black militants that they have paid
their fair share to the liberal concerns
of America.

If white students are able to at-
tend black studies courses with black
students , will they be able to accept
the ideals and form the same hypothesis
which black students will extract from
the course?

What should be considered is the
nature in which Black Studies courses
must be taught in order to reach and re-
inforce the ideals of the black student.
Whites will rarely comprehend or appre-
ciate the methods which should be used.
In their own defensive ways they feel
threatened .

. . .Another question

Would white Instructors be able to
teach a course in Black Studies with sig-
nificant relevance to students black or
white? One answer is probably not, as in
the case of the white American educator.
He is already a walking example of the
ass-backward beliefs of his own race.
Being white he is the creator and perpet-
uator of his own institutionalized prob-
lems in rascism.
Could he reach a black student?
Could he inspire a black student? With

what, we ask? With what?
This university should make it a point to
try and understand that a Black Studies
Department at this school would be an at-
tempt at a long overdue committment at
arriving at a justifiable beginning to-
wards a solution to THEIR problem.

sandy mitchem
*****

where you at ??

Black Power no longer the phrase of the hour...

Revolution is a super black man with a super afro administered

to by a super hair spray and being so anti white he refuses

to take a bath being natural and having no need for deodorants...

and Freedom is a murky word with dynamic implications and strong

tendencies and is spoken from the barrel of a comb...

white proff
White prof fessor, white proffessor, white proffessor
teach me the golden rules
teach me to be relevant
make me a credit to my race

can you ?
will you?
help me
with your Brooks Brother's suit, your razor cut, your black and
white wingtips,and your diamond jack socks but you know you're
as clean as the board of health and sharp as a mosquitoes peter-
ain't you a bitch...
White prof fessor, white prof fessor , white proffessor

white educator of the masses
groove me, move me, sooth me, teach me to melt into the pot

can you?
can you?
teach me Malcolm, teach me Che, teach me Mao, teach me revolution
teach me real, teach me real, teach me what is real and not
ideal. . .

instead
you

teach me german, teach me french, teach me russian, teach me
george, teach me woodrow, teach me teddy, teach me A's, teach
me B's, teach me C's, cause D's don't transfer...
teach me to turn to the last page of the exam. .

what's my grade?
what's yours?

the Appeal
I me,

am of

the ripe taste

fruit pick and

of a of kingdoms

lost fig tree... Black Queen

Stokes W. Hall Jr.
( Ola )

PROFESSOR BERNARD BELL

( AN INTERVIEW BY CARLTON BROWN )

Professor Bernard Bell is the acting director of the University of
Massachusetts Black Studies Department. Professor Bell was born and received
part of his early education in Washington, D.C. He has also resided in and at-
tended public schools in Maryland, New Jersey, Chicago, and New York. Most of his
secondary school education was received in Manhattan and the Bronx. He grad-
uated from DeWitt Clinton High School in New York, the same predominantly
white school that James Baldwin attended.

Professor Bell received his undergraduate degree from Howard University
where he also did graduate work and taught for a year and a half. It was at
Howard that Bell first became acquainted with Mike Thelwell(the present di-
rector of the University Black Studies Program) . He also became acquainted
with Stokely Carmichael and Sterling Brown while at Howard. From Howard Univ-
ersity,Professor Bell returned to Washington, D.C. and taught in the public
school system there for four years.

It was due to the persuasions of Sterling Brown that Bernard Bell came
to the University of Massachusetts. Sterling Brown had impressed him with the
work and conversation about Sidney Kaplan of the University English Department
and a member of the University Black Studies Committee. Professor Bell came
here first as a teaching assistant and will receive his doctorate in June of
this year. He is a revisionist scholar in Black Literature with a specializa-
tion in black fiction writing. He has been called upon to lecture around the
country on the subject of Black Literature.

On the subject of Black Studies Bell sees the objectives of the department
as a two-pronged effort. One aspect or orientation of the department would be
service-oriented; that is, it would be to create a group of community-oriented
black people here who would eventually function within "the community" itself.
These people, upon the academic completion of their education, would return to
the black community to become public school teachers , functioning in, and organ-
izing institutions such as Harlem Preparatory School in addition to street
academies .

The second orientation would be a scholarly or academic pursuit. This as-
pect of Black Studies would concern itself with the development of the neces-
sary revisionist scholarship in all areas of the social sciences. This cadre
would be more involved with academic endeavors relating to Black people. More
specifically this would entail research and the publishing of materials deal-
ing with Black poeples , their characteristics , culture and perspectives. Prof-
essor Bell insists , though, that the personnel in this cadre would not be isolated
from the Black community because of their pursuits, but only different from i.
those in the community. These educators must still acquaint themselves with
and function within black schooling systems , street academies and high schools
in order to give them the necessary academic legitimacy that they may make sound
judgments in relating to the black experience. Bell believes strongly in the
development of community-oriented scholars. They would not be an elitist group
or an isolated one merely by virtue of their collective black committment.

In response to the recent proposal issued to the College of Arts and
Sciences concerning the Black Studies proposal, Bell was strong in his rejection
of this new move. The response to the proposal stated to the community that
what was really needed and sought by the content of our proposal was a school
or college and not a department. Professor Bell believes that we should be
specific and insist on a department, the one which was proposed, and not "accept

7.

AN INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR LAWRENCE
JOHNSON OF THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION CONCERNING BLACK
STUDIES AT U-MASS
by

Philip Pettijohn

Professor Lawrence Johnson of
the School of Business Administration
believes that a Black Studies Depart-
ment is possible and should be imple-
mented at the University of Mass. as
soon as possible. According to Prof.
Johnson the only hang-up about the
indoctrination of a Black Studies
would be a possible lack of qualified
faculty to run the department, or if
the faculty would also have the ade-
quate credentials to educate the par-
ticipating students. But Professor
Johnson reminds us that a substantial
portion of the present faculty at
U-Mass are graduate students and whose
"credentials", in the same respect, can
be questioned.

Professor Johnson theorizes that
the main objective of a Black Studies
Department shoud be to destroy that
lethal myth about black people, the
myth of the inferiority complex of
black poeple in their relations with
the white elements . This is one of
the major drawbacks in the attempt to-
wards Black Unity says Professor John-
son and even to the present time there
is not one black man who is not affected
by this inferiority complex, whether it
be directly or indirectly.

Moreover, he stresses the importance
of courses in economics and Black Cap*" i '
italism (call it what you want) , being
included in the Black Studies Depart-
ment. Blacks are going to have to deal
with money and how to obtain, manage, and
channel it. Most of the "Mans'" power
lies in the capital he controls. Thus,
if black people are going to master
some or even all of this power they
should be prepared to manage it in the
mos t (ef f ective)way .

Professor Johnson concluded the
interview by stressing the fact that
Black students on campus should become
more politically aware , They must start
dealing with the "Man" , start gaming
and sheming with the "Man" and even-

tually learn how this political machine
operates .

Professor Johnson assures the Black
students that he will totally support
any rational action on the part of Blacks
at U-Mass.

(interview with Bernard Bell con't. from
page 3)

less than what is there in the proposal."
It would be premature to undertake the
establishment of a larger unit until the
department is sound and functioning
properly. He says that we are not play-
ing games. "We are serious about devel-
oping a community consciousness among
Black students and a disciplined group
of Black scholars" to create a black
mood here. He feels that we should start
our department and staff it with the best
black scholars and continue to build un-
til we have "the best Afro-American
Studies unit on the east coast." Profes-
sor Bell goes on to say that it is impli-
cit in the idea of five-college coopera-
tion and it is imperative that depart-
ments be established on all campuses si-
multaneously .

Bell explained his feelings concern-
ing the committment of the other colleges
in comparison with the University's black
contingent. He believes that if the others
were as seriously committed they would
have "more vigorously investigated cap-
able faculty and the establishment of
meaningful black courses in their respec-
tive institutions," Bell was impressed,
however, with the new spirit of unity de-
monstrated by the five-college black oc-
cupation of Amherst College. He feels
we are now "seeing a common need and a
common goal and cooperating in achieving
these." Professor Bell believes that the
student-faculty Black Studies Committee
is the only valid means by which individ-
uals may determine their own future, goals ,
education and life direction.

In conclusion, he stated: "We are all
one people, all one destiny" insofar as
we need to control our own communities ,
ourselves and our collective life.

II

Questions of Relevance

An important question for all
black students on the University of
Massachusetts campus and on other
campuses across the nation is -
what are the criteria for relevance?
This word is thrown around by every-
one and usually refers to courses
or areas of study related to our
black experience. I wonder if the
scope of the connotation is too
narrow .

Unfortunately, too many of the
brothers and sisters are walking
around with Reader's Digest mentali-
ties . We absorb whatever we hear
either on authority or through
emotional willingness. We don't think I
We've never been trained to think. I
don't even think we're supposed to
think.

At a time when every black mind
on campus needs to be cultivated for
present and future use, we need to
take this up with ourselves. We need
to begin to focus on directions and
goals in keeping with our realities.
One of these immediate realities is
Black Studies.

Hopefully (and necessarily)
every black student realizes the leg-
itimacy and the urgent necessity of
a well-defined and functional Black
Studies program. Hopefully, every
black student who takes the courses
offered is making an effort to do
everything possible to catch up on
his lost twelve years of school.
This is an idealistic hope, but
we're getting it together.

The main point, however, is that
black students must decide, from their
own particular frame of reference,
what courses of intellectual pursuit
are relevant to them and meet their

individual needs and the future needs
of the black community.

It is obvious to me that brother
Donaldson knows the American political
system - the white establishment system.
Leroi Jones knows his white classical
and contemporary literature among other
things. Attend one of Ivanhoe Donaldson's
classes or read even the shortest poems
by brother Jones and you'll see what I
mean.

Black Studies does not exist or func-
tion in a vacuum. Neither does the Black
community. Black communities, in solving
their problems and directing their desti-
nies, have to, by the nature of the make-
up of this country, deal with the man.
And you cannot deal with the man if you
don't know his tricks.

There are no set guidelines for
deciding what is relevant and what should
be studied. Each student must carefully
decide which area he intends to concentrate
in and then decide exactly what necessary
knowledge he needs to accumulate. He has
to decide what background is necessary in
order for him to deal with the complex issues
and problems of the black experience;
whether in literature, education, or
politics. Before we write off Government
100 as irrelevant, we need to see if it
offers anything we can use. You can't
fight the enemy unless you know who he is ,
where he is and what he's doing. We know
who he is and where he is. Now all that's
necessary is a more than cursory knowledge
of what he's about and direction in order
to fight back.

carol seales

*****

9.

STATEMENT

At 1:00 A.M. Wednesday morning, Black students from the Five College
area moved to occupy several buildings on the Amherst College campus. The
specific goal of this action was to close the college down. The outstand-
ing feature of this action was that it represented an ideological and phy-
sical committment to the concept of a Five College Community (Black) . Black
students from each college in the area(Smith, Amherst ,U-Mass , and Mt. Holyoke)
as a coordinated unit, planned and implemented this action.

We, the Black Student Community , recognize that the Colleges are not,
and have never been, seriously committed to satisfying our needs and the
needs of the broader Black Community. Previous efforts to implement programs
that speak to needs have led to meaningless dialogues between individual
campus groups and their respective administrative structures. Innumerable
meetings , countless proposals and "advisory" committees have continually
frustrated our efforts to determine the reality of our presence. That reality
demands the acceptance of our right to determine our own programs , policies ,
and directions.

Our collective presence at Amherst was a statement of committment to
the Concept of Community, for indeed Amherst is the white college community
in microcosm. The Black Student Community is addressing itself to the in-
ability of the white college community to define the nature of the Black
reality and its refusal to recognize the validity of self-determination on
the part of the Five College Black Community.

Self-determination and self-definition are the crucial issues in this
and subsequent actions. We will not compromise our position on these issues.

10,

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MY JUDGMENT & I

"Heaven, that bright and lovely place"

It's jive heart is left between my judgment &

Many a time people say to me
God damn it, when they know that
the world or anything within it
was not damned by God, but
by man. Man alone damned his
own existence

We have the inalienable right to live
Live for what? A dog lives.

Dirt lives tool

Hell's a manifest destiny , ready to control

everyone's soul

Like night preys on day, weakened any way,

it eats up enlightenment

Here's an envelope that bears in
bold print "Pray For Peace". Shit,
that's what's wrong with people
today. They're praying for peace
and nothing's getting done.
Instead of praying for peace, they
should get their asses out in the
streets working for it. The
"All-Knowing" gave us a road to
take. Why, I don't know. If
we don't get off our knees and
start trying to help ourselves ,
the "all-knowing" is not going to
lift a damned finger for us .

war : congress : government : shit : the night before
Christmas : ass inine views of the future:?
Money is a worldly treasure
But so isn't life

-Mother Fucker

11,

GROUPS
We sit
in these cold

circles
listening to

windows
and what they

always say.
There is nothing

any of
us can say

that would not
cause an echo

across these
empty circles .

-Peggy Janey-

12.

Throughout the ebb and flow of the revolution
It is crucially important that
we recognize
Unity in Diversity.,

that
we recognize the Commonness
in the plight against oppressive organs
which

we share with our darker
BROTHERS ! EVERYWHERE . .
The following is a thought from Ricardo SAnchez,

one of many of our Chicano BROTHERS . .

* * *

date written: TIMELESS

"To La Causa. . ."

corky gonzales ,

cesar chavez,

reies tijerina,

jose angel gi^tierrez,

emiliano zapata, Cuauhtemoc and moctezuma

la causa is old, ^
pre-dates the gachupin — that
european on horseback — leaping out
my lore . • .

words at captive times

locked in mines and cotton fields,

singing out spirit-alma canticles

hued by bronze

with the lash of toledo steel

and moorish ulullation. . .

la causa is brown-flecked
California to texas, lands
drenched in mestizo sweat and blood,

la causa is Indian featured
with a bit of castilian,moor,
and sephardic Semite
along with pungent blackness
that roamed spain eons ago —

la causa

is the human-ness of brown people

articulating

el ritmo de la humanidad ....

Ricardo Sanchez

la causa is supple brown hands

harvesting

Aztlan lands

and hurting chicano children

die of malnutrition

and deprivation

13.

The Lemans

Black

He sits there

Silent and Meditating. Then...

Silent and meditating no more

He jumps up with rage.

Tired of kissing your ass I
Tired of carrying your load'.
Tired '.
Just plain tired I

You've incured his wrath much too long,
And now he asks for freedom along with
some of your power

He shall have it I

Why?

Because ... He is the Lemans

He shall rise and bring forth a new life

for hi people
A life of blackness, brilliance and brightness.

Why?

Because ... He is the Lemans,

*sister Benetta Pearson

YOU

When I sleep
You are there
I hug you
I kiss you
I love you

When I wake
You are gone
There is no more you
There is only you.

*J.E. Ward

14.

POEM TO MY BROTHERS (U MASS) (from a sister for sisters to dig on)

Brothers like to rap

yeah I my brothers dig rappini

& though most of it is:

"yeahji dig hearin myself rappin my shit"

my brothers put down a whole-lotta

shit worth hearin:

like when the brother

gets into his thang about

me bein queen. . .liis backbone

( if his backbone breaks he breaks)

& when the brother crys

"i'm diin & i need my folk

to live"

it's worth hearin & i gotta listen

right-on, sisters I

my brothers dig that jawbone calastestics

& we all know they steady

checkin us out

& tellin us bout ourselves

but check again sisters

when our thang is tight
they're diggin that too
& even then

amongst all their lippin & mouthin
my brothers gotta lot to say
& it's worth sayin
& worth hearin

. . . .listen. . . .

sister Jean Parrish
2/12/70

15,

To Know . . .

I Know. And to know is more than to say that I know. Because to know

and really know is to be able to

know how to express what you know

without showing that you know so that

you are not the only one to know. I

know that it is nothing to know and not

have others know too. But when you

do know [and I do Know], you'll Know

not to say what you Know, because

to Know just to speak of what you

Know is not to Know, it is to speak

of what you think you Know. And when

you think you Know you tend to think more

of showing and less of Knowing so you don't

Know

as much of Knowing as you would

have had you thought to Know more. To know

is to Know ... Do you Know?

I Know .

by

"waiter "grass" wintchell"

16,

BLACK THOUGHTS

What is liberty to a slave?

All he knows of is to be free in a grave.
Slaves are men, Black

Which only equality lack.

america you took away our culture.

So as we become prey, and you the vulture.

What is this Non VIOLENCE that is preached?

You do not know yourself what to teach
You go from country to country setting a goal

But you, yourself do not even know the role.

What does the Fourth of July mean to me?

When I don't even know what it is to be free.

Men have died for what you call liberty

But BLACKS still don't have equality
Jefferson, hancock,patrick henry who are they supposed to be

NAT TURNER, DU BOIS, MALCOLM X,are the men for me.

white heroes are what we have been taught
BLACK HEROES are what we want.

by

glenn walker

18,

THE PROMISED LAND

" I may not get there with you, but I want you
to know tonight that we as a people will get to the
promised land," said Rev. Martin Luther King.

William Greer, author of Black Rage, wrote
" For the average Negro so much time has passed
and so little has changed."

From Senator Fred Harris ,

" Despite greater acceptance of Negroes into our
major institutions, both public and private, it is still no
easy thing to be a black person in America."

Many black people who enter these major institutions
soon forget the predicament black people face. They honestly
believe they have reached the promised land; but remember
Rev. King said;

" We as a people will get to the promised land."

Don't forget the thousands of brothers and sisters
who are still out there struggling to get there with
you.

" We are climbing a mountain, a very steep mountain."
Some of us are stronger and more apt to overcome all
obstacles. Don't continue up and leave the weaker ones
behind. Turn around and give a helping hand to your own brothers
and sisters, and this way we will all get
to the promised land, as one people, destined to live
together, love together, fight together and
die together.

brother Cal. B. Whitworth

It's raining?

Yeah, it's raining;

Of course it's raining.

Raining , raining .

The sun shines .

Still it rains.

Clear white rain.

On me.

On us .

Clear white rain

STOP.

your

time
has

come

Ingrid

<

19,

ODD ONE DEM IS

lord luv a duck. I'm dotty. And dottier now.

Why's they brought me here?

To kill me?

To condition me?

Dem teach me of George Washington

To be separate from my unlucky brothers and

sisters out there
Odd one dem is, odd as they come
Best watch myself.

But I no fool as dem think

Mek me jus play along wid dem fi di time

being.
Bloody nice arrangement , a meal and a good bed

fi once
Snug it is

Does a man's soul good, it does, to have warm meat
and a desant place fi sleep.

Dem think dat if dem fatten me up on

food
I might slip mi guard

And dem can dispatch me some dark night
Odd one dem is, Odd as they come
Best watch myself.

*brother Cal. B. Whitworth

Black is ;

Black is a thought that

has been explored,

Black is an experience.

Black is a combination

of beautiful things.

Black is a wish.

Black is you and me,

Black is what we go through.

Black is hunger and poverty,

power and dissent,

Black is a question.

Black is the past, the present

and the future.

Black is life.

Black is kinks and hair grease,

cornbread and chittluns.

Black is nice.

Black is segregation, integration

and bussing.

Black is dicussion.

Black is meeting and jiving

and doin your thing.

Black is what's happenin' .

Black is partying and smokin'

and poppin' pills.

Black is death .

Black is love and hate, happiness

and sorrow.

Black is . . .

*sister B.J. Grotames

21.

BLACK PEOPLE

Black facial features are in harmony with themselves,

hard and soft at once.
Emotion plays honestly upon Black faces...

but when necessary, the curtain descends,
and the stage is dark and
mysteriously empty.
Black thought strikes at the heart.
It adresses the emotion.

It rejects irrelevant restrictions of
White logic.
Black people are English-innovators .

Even with proper grammar they speak Jazz.
Black people speak in everday poetry...

Full and heavy, not thin, sharp and chintzy.

Black voices are velvet and brocade.

Black people make words fluid,
like liquid gold.

I prefer the logic, the language and the voices

of Black people.

I like to look at Black people.

Black people are beautiful.

*Peggy Janey

A TOUCH OF COSBY

22.

"Fat Albert", "Wierd Harold" , Noah,
and his brother Russel are all charac-
ters which Bill Cosby has immortalized
in one way or another. But what about
the other side of him;the side that
the audience does not see? What are
his ideas concerning Black Studies, the
Panthers, and politics in this country.

In a taped interview on Saturday,
February 14th Bill Cosby, who is pessi-
mistic and does not believe that all
oppressed people will ever get together
to form real power , discussed these and
other issues openly. As the interview ■
progressed Bill's natural and casual
manner served to relax the atmosphere
which opened up the exchange. When he
was asked about his thoughts on the
need for black dormitories and Black
Studies programs he mentioned that at
this time dorms are not the answers in
themselves because there must be some
integration before America can care
about a black as well as a white. He
continued by saying, "This may, however,
be effective in putting pressure on
some people to realize that black
people should be treated equally. You
are taking a chance, though, by segre-
gating yourselves with no strength for
infiltration." He sees , however , the
Black Studies program as being worth-
while,but feels there should be more
white people in them to combat white
America's basic ignorance.

The subject changed to the Black
Panther Party and he stated that he
agrees with their basic "10 Point
Program". "However," he adds, "what's
happening to them is a result of let-
ting the 'enemy' know what you plan
to do. If you are going to talk
about shooting a cop, go ahead and do
it, or the end result will be that
they break into your home at 4 o'clock
in the morning and gun you down'."

Bill cosby,like any other black
man, has had his share of confrontations
with the "man" and considers the most
decisive factor in winning , to be
POWER. Says he, "You find out how to
play the game;play it and beat the
enemy at it'." When asked if that was
his own personal philosophy , he dis-
agreed and went on to say, "There are
people you dig and believe in;work

with them. That's my philosophy and
it's proven to work."

After approximately five years
in the public's eye as an acknowledged
black millionaire, he has had to filter
out certain kinds of people , mainly for
financial reasons. In conclusion he
says , "Everyone with a growl, a clenched
fist and knowing all the twelve hand-
shakes doesn't necessarily happen to
be working for other black people."
He carries these feelings into his ..
perceptions of black politicians. Even
though the trend these days is towards
electing more black politicians , he be-
lieves that each and every black man
in power is not necessarily dedicated
to freeing other black people ;basical-
ly there are too many "pay-offs".

He ended his discussion on poli-
tics by responding to a question about
Vice-President Agnew and commenting
that he considered both Agnew and Nixon
total threats , not only to black people
but to poor whites as well(i .e. , cut-
back on H.E.W.,more expenditures on
war materials, and the ease of wealth-
ier people to avoid the draft) .

The pace of the interview was
changed and he talked a little about
his home in Beverly Hills and his child-
ren. Cosby, truly a thoughtful father,
tells of how he teaches his two daugh-
ters to respect all people but also
to defend themselves if they are called
a name. He went on to say, "They can do
one of two things ;smack the person in
the mouth or defend themselves ver-
bally. At ages 4 and 5, they 're much
too young to understand social and
psychological reasoning."

Bill Cosby ended the session by
saying that his plans for the future
are to continue what he is doing now.
He wouldn't go into any more detail
because as he said, "I don't want to
arm the enemy."

That evening the members of WMIIA,
the Hampshire Gazette, Bob Alexander,
and myself (Jimmy Wilkinson) questioned
Mr. Cosby for a revealing 45 to 50 min-
utes. He mixed a casual exterior with
very definite thoughts on controver-
sial issues and still managed to slip

23.

in a few funny lines. To say the least,
Cosby, like most contemporary black stars
is outspoken in his views yet somewhat
idealistic in his application for change.
Although he travfls in different circles
he is hip to what's happening among
young black people and is in a position
to lend his support if need be. I guess
that's all we can expect...

Or is it?

'■'submitted by

Jimmy Wilkinson

THE DRUM THE DRUM THE DRUM
THE DRUM THE DRUM
THE DRUM

ANNOUNCES
meeting of all staff era , writers ,

critics
who wish to help mold a unique

BLACK IMAGE

to be present
mentally
physically
spiritually

BROADSIDE BULLETINS

For those interested in:

Health Careers Summer Program
Harvard Medical School
24 Shattuck St.
Cambridge

contact : Carol Sanders
(a 734-3300

*

MILLS HOUSE COFFEESHOP
presents

BLACK HERITAGE FILM FESTIVAL
and
POETRY READINGS

every Wednesday @ 8pm
POETS
Mike Cook
Bill Hasson
Bill Wilkinson
McKinley Moore
Tom Sellers
Jean Parrish
Chuck Reed
* -k * ^

"Are You Listening World", A Thesis
production of poetry , dance, and
music
directed by Shelbe Freeman
presented April 16-17-18

@ Mt. Holyoke College, lab theatre

at a meeting on:

March 9,1970
at 4:30pm

within MILLS HOUSE, 111
If you wish to work now and write

with us and cannot make
the meeting, phone 545-2414
ask for

THE DRUM THE DRUM THE DRUM
THE DRUM THE DRUM
THE DRUM

Dudley Randall, poet and teacher
at University of Michigan
will read his poetry
Friday, March 13 @ 4:15pm

(? Herter Aud 231

Bill Hasson, grad. student and
teacher at the U-Mass Sch . of Ed.

will read his poetry
Tuesday, March 10(9 4:15pm

@ Herter Aud 231
* *

WANTED'.".".'

ART WORK

"Feel Free" to fall on
in the DRUM office with your
ART WORK

scripts available @ MHC Blackhouse

for private auditions contact:
Shelbe Freeman

@536-4000,ext. 405,474,310

parts openi

24.
BROADSIDE

It seems that one progresive step towards the cause for black
pride and awareness in the revolution would be that black brothers
and sisters patronize the functions at other black educational communities
especially in the immediate vicinity.

Case in point :Brown University is presenting a Black History and Cult-
ural Festival this month, March 19-22. Here's what's happening..

Thursday (March 19)

1:00pm Art exhibit in Faunce House

6:00pm Film "Of Black America" series in Metcalf Auditorium

8:00pm Opening address with LeRoi Jones at Sayles

Friday (March 20)

1:30pm Lecture on Black Music with "Cannonball" Adderley at

Sayles

3:00pm Poetry reading with Don L. Lee

4:30pm Cocktail party wifch Adderley and Lee

8:00pm Jazz concert featuring Adderley at Meehan Auditorium

10:00pm Mixer at Sayles with Billy Stewart

Saturday (March 21)
12noon Soul food banquet followed by an Afro-fashion show

((31.25 extra) at Andrews Dining Hall
2:00pm Cocktail Sip at Afro center with members and guests
3:00pm Informal lecture given by Dick Gregory at Alumnae Hall
4:30pm Sherry Hour with Dick Gregory at the Crystal Room
5:30pm Black Arts Festival buffet at refectory
8:00pm Memphis Stax/Volt revue with Issac Hayes, Carla Thomas,
and the Bar-Kays
10:30pm Mixer at Sayles Hall with the O'Jays or a live band

Sunday (March 22)

1:00pm Sermon with Jesse Jackson followed by a concert of

black spirituals at Manning Chapel
7:00pm;

and Showing of the film "Uptight"

9:00pm

..for further information write the Black Student Organization
at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

THE DRUM

wishes to acknowledge the invaluable artistic
contributions
of
Brother Jimmy Wilkinson

we also wish to acknowledge the constant encouragement of

the Black Community
for without their presence and spirits and (harassing)

THE DRUM

would not become a reality for us all.

PEACE

POWER

PRIDE

TO THE PEOPLE

• ■■."-?*.■... ■•■ ■